Look, I've been in the gun business long enough to know when the anti-gun crowd is cooking up something truly insidious. California's Assembly Bill 2047 might sound like just another gun control measure, but let me tell you – this one is particularly nasty.
Here's the deal: California wants to force every 3D printer sold in the state to include mandatory screening software. This digital nanny would intercept every file you send to your printer, compare it against a government database of "banned shapes," and shut down your machine if it detects anything the state considers forbidden.
Think about that for a second. You buy a printer with your hard-earned money, but the state apparently retains ultimate veto power over what you can actually create with it. Your receipt means nothing. Your property rights mean nothing.
What's particularly rankled is watching the same people who cried foul when the Supreme Court said businesses could prohibit guns on their property are now perfectly fine with the government telling you what you can and can't manufacture in your own home. Make it make sense.
The really messed up part? Even if you want to print something totally legal – like a compliant pistol grip for a firearm that's already legal in your state – the technology they're demanding might refuse to print it anyway. And heaven forbid you try to jailbreak your printer to regain control of your own property. That's also banned under this legislation.
This is the future the anti-gunners want: not just to restrict what you can buy, but to control what you can make. They've moved beyond "shall not be infringed" and into "shall not be manufactured."
The right to keep and bear arms is the backbone of every other right we have. When the government can control the tools we use to exercise our Second Amendment rights, they're not just infringing on one freedom – they're setting a precedent that erodes them all.
California's AB 2047 isn't about public safety. It's about control. And we can't let them get away with it.